


Angus McDonald-Waxmen-Burnsides, Boy Detective

by Hinn_Raven



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Family, Canonical Character Death, Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 21:32:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15228327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hinn_Raven/pseuds/Hinn_Raven
Summary: Angus McDonald is Magnus Burnsides's step-son, and he loves his dad very much. Even if his dad chooses to pretend they're not related in front of his coworkers.





	Angus McDonald-Waxmen-Burnsides, Boy Detective

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sroloc_Elbisivni](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sroloc_Elbisivni/gifts).



> Happy belated birthday to sroloc_elbisivni! Hope you like your present!

Angus McDonald is ten years old, and he’s been at boarding school for the past six months, so he’s super excited to be able to get out into the world for a bit. Rockport’s been… nice, he supposes, and he’s had a pretty good rapport going with the Rockport Militia, but he thinks really, he’s learned everything he’s going to there.

So after he visits his grandfather and solves the case of the Rockport Slayer, he thinks he’ll start forging the paperwork to transfer to a school in Neverwinter, at least until Candlenights. He’s done work in Neverwinter over the holidays, so the Militia already know him pretty well. And when Dad visits on Candlenights (and he _will_ visit, he’s _promised_ , he’s _never_ missed Candlenigts before), he’ll ask him to sign the papers for real, and Dad will _definitely_ say yes, but it’s not Angus’s fault that Dad’s been out of contact these past few months, so he can’t actually get permission right now.

Of course, just as he’s thinking that, and starting to vaguely sketch out his dad’s signature in the corner of his case-notes, he looks up, and he sees his dad sitting next to him.

He starts to grin, because he loves his dad, he really does, and he hasn’t seen him in _months_ , and it’s been ages since he’s called too, when his dad wiggles his eyebrows, tilts his head towards the other two people he’s with—one’s an elf with a really tall hat, the other a dwarf—and holds a finger up to his lips. Angus had spotted them out of the corner of his eye when they’d gotten on the train, but he hadn’t really taken the time to look at them closely, because he was trying to triangulate a potential hunting area for the Rockport Slayer.

He’s a bit embarrassed about that, actually, because he missed his _dad_ boarding the same train he was on.

Angus sighs and settles in for whatever strange joke his dad is playing.

Magnus Burnsides is a great dad (or step-dad, as the case may be), but sometimes Angus doesn’t quite get him.

* * *

 

Julia Waxmen is very proud of her son, even if she doesn’t see him all that often. Raven’s Roost was… well, it wasn’t the safest place for a kid, especially not when your mom is a hypothetical leader in a rumored rebellion against a supposed tyrant. So, she acquiesces custody to his dad, even though she doesn’t exactly like it, and writes him loads of letters, and visits every Candlenights, even if she has to knock out a few guards to make it work.

And Magnus Burnsides, the new love of her life, when he meets Angus (McDonald, not Waxmen, because Julia has to admit “Angus McDonald” is a _fucking dope_ name) is also very proud of him.

“Hello sir,” Angus says. He’s gotten dressed up for the occasion, and Julia wants to hug him again, but she knows he and Magnus should probably get to know each other. She… doesn’t really know what she’ll do if they don’t get along.

“Uh… hey?” Magnus rubs the back of his neck. “You’re Angus, right? Your mom’s told me a lot about you.”

“She hasn’t told me very much about you,” Angus says, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose—they’re too big for him, Julia realizes fondly.

“Oh.” Magnus looks absolutely crushed, and Julia is about to speak up when Angus keeps on going.

“But that’s because she’s always worried her messages to me will be intercepted, so she doesn’t talk about anyone she cares about. And so, I guess by _that_ logic, she really cares about you a lot!”

Magnus brightens. “Hey, you like mysteries, right? That means I’m a mystery!”

Angus’s smile is wide and Julia gives in and hugs him tight, and then Magnus for good measure.

Her family is all together now. She couldn’t be happier.

* * *

 

“You’re a fancy lad,” the dwarf tells Angus.

Angus takes a moment to process this, glancing at Dad, who is keeping his face utterly straight in a way that means he thinks this entire thing is totally hilarious.

Angus hopes this goof isn’t going to be too much at his expense.

“You know, being fancy is good, but sometimes it’s better to be Pan-cy and not just fancy. Let me read to you about Pan from my Xtreme Teen Bible, what do you say?”

 _Oh_! Angus realizes, excited. This must be Merle! Dad wrote about him last time, before he went off to take that job for Gundren Rockseeker! Which means he can play on the goof.

“Uh, hello sir. Thank you for the evangelism, but I’m affiliated already and I appreciate it. And my dad says that I sh— I’m not allowed to talk to people who worship pagan gods.” _There_! Dad’s mouth is twitching. Angus feels remarkably proud, at least until he realizes that Merle is frowning.

“Well, uh, that’s fine, I guess. Uh, but you know if you’re gonna stay close-minded and you’re not gonna be open to new ideas, you’re not going to grow up to be a very well-rounded young man.”

Angus winces internally—he wants to make a good impression on Dad’s friends, after all. “Ok sir, I—I apologize if I was being rude before. Please tell me the good news.” Dad has his hands over his mouth now, so Angus thinks he might have just lost this round. But he accepts the Pan Chick Tract anyways, and tries to be polite.

“What is—what is your name—”

Merle looks thrown off and kind of struggles, which means that they’re probably undercover. Is that why Dad doesn’t want them to know who Angus is? “I’m Brother- I’m Brother Leeman, just call me Brother Leeman.”

Angus nods, as if accepting this.

“Brother Leeman, hello. My name is Angus, I’m a little boy. I—I’m going to visit my grandpa in Neverwinter. Have you been to Neverwinter before?” He can’t help the jab at Dad—Dad has come with him to Grandpa McDonald’s house many times over the years, since Mom died.

Dad whispers something to Taako and Merle, and Angus thinks he’s being made fun of. Which isn’t very _nice_ of Dad, honestly, if Merle and Taako don’t even know he’s his son!

“Excuse me, sirs. My grandpa says it’s rude to whisper, especially on a train. My name’s Angus!”

Dad squints at Angus suspiciously at that, and Angus just grins, practically bouncing, trying to come up with a way to get Dad alone so they can talk _properly_. It’s been ages since he’s had Dad along on a mystery, and he’s kind of missed it! Dad can do all sorts of useful things like scare people and reach tall shelves.

“We had to say _dirty_ words, Angus, dirty words that you can’t hear. Adult words.”

“That sounds like a bunch of dogshit, sir!” Angus says brightly, just because if Dad isn’t going to be Dad right now, it means he can’t be mad at Angus for swearing.

Dad’s mouth pops open in indignant rage.

“Hi Angus, where are you from?” Taako asks, leaning over Dad to talk.

“Me?” Angus says, wondering how much he’ll be able to get away with before Dad cracks and tries to Dad him. “I’m not allowed to say.”

* * *

 

The problem with Raven’s Roost is that their school is _okay_ , but it’s not really… enough, for a kid like Angus. Angus already speaks two languages—Magnus has been teaching him elvish, although Julia’s not sure _where_ he picked that up himself. She’s taught Angus to pick locks and shoot a crossbow, and Merle’s teaching him how to carve and the names of the stars, but none of that’s proper socialization, and certainly it’s not the kind of things he needs to know if he wants to be the World’s Greatest Detective by the age of eight, like Caleb Cleveland in his books.

Okay, maybe the crossbows and the lockpicking will help with that, but he probably needs to learn math. He hasn’t declared a class yet—too young for that, and rightly so, in Julia’s opinion. But he needs a good basic education for a background, especially if he wants to go to Bard College or Wizard School or anything like that, and she suspects he will want to, because he’s a bright kid.

So one day she takes out a big map of Faerun and puts it down on the table, and says, grandly as you please, “Alright Angus, where do you want to go to school?”

Angus’s eyes light up and he runs to fetch his notebook, where, it turns out, he’s already made a list addressing this exact question. Julia is fondly exasperated, because of _course_ he’s already thought about this.

Magnus chews his lip thoughtfully. “Neverwinter might be a good one,” he says, carefully. “There’s a good carpentry community, we could fit in—”

It’ll hurt them both to be away from Raven’s Roost, but if it’s what they need to do to give Angus the life he deserves, they’ll do it.

“Um,” Angus says, looking hesitant. “I mean, you don’t have to do that. Sir. Magnus. Dad. I mean, I could stay with um, my other Dad, or even Grandpa, or there’s boarding school—actually, a lot of the best schools are boarding schools.”

“Angus,” Julia objects.

“I think it’s important for a detective to be able to do things on his own,” Angus says. “Besides,” he adds. “You can visit me!”

Julia smiles, and kisses her son on the cheek. “I guess we can,” she says.

* * *

 

When Taako and Merle go off to the Pleasure Room, Dad stays behind and sits next to Angus.

“Hey Ango,” he says, grinning. Angus likes it when his dad smiles like that—it shows off the chip in his tooth, the one that he got during the Rebellion. It was his favorite story when he was a kid, because it always led into the story of how Mom and Dad met.

Angus grins back, and then, peeking to make sure no one else is around, hugs Dad tightly. Dad gives the best hugs in the known universe, or at least in Angus’s known universe.

“Dad!”

Dad ruffles his hair, which Magnus doesn’t even mind all that much. He’ll fix it later.

“Sorry I didn’t let you know I was going to be here—it was kind of last minute.”

“Are you on a job, Dad?” He’s not sure why the kind of mercenary work Dad’s been doing would involve boarding a train under a false name, but Angus has probably done stranger things himself while on a case.

“Yep! We’re, uh, well I can’t exactly tell you, but I promise I’ll explain soon.” Dad looks kind of sheepish and he rubs the new bracelet thing he’s wearing.

Angus frowns. Dad’s not much for jewelry—he’s got the ring Mom made him, but that’s pretty much it. And he doesn’t recognize the symbol on the bracelet. “You’re sure you can’t tell me?”

“Eh, it would take a while, and Taako and Merle will be back soon.”

“Do you not trust them, Dad?” Angus says, instantly concerned. He’s pretty sure that Merle is impersonating a dead man, which is always a sure sign of a villain in a Caleb Cleveland novel.  

“What? Oh no, I just think it’s funny.”

“Oh! Okay. It is a pretty good goof.” Angus just hopes that Dad isn’t ashamed of him.

“Isn’t it? You did good, kiddo.”

Angus glows at the praise. “Since you’re here, does this mean I can start Candlenights vacation early?”

Dad squints at him. “Candlenights is in like, two months.”

Angus shrugs. “Rockport Academy is kind of boring.”

Dad laughs, then pauses to rub his neck. “Ah, I kind of need to like, make… housing arrangements? I’ve got a place now! It’ll be fun. But like, I need to get the paperwork sorted and clear it with my new boss and—”

Angus deflates slightly. “Oh. Okay.”

“It’ll work out! I just thought you were still at school so I hadn’t really gotten too far with it!”

“You completely forgot, didn’t you?”

“You were at school!”

Angus smiles and hides behind his book.

Taako and Merle come back then, and Angus lowers the book he’s pretending to read, and grins at them. “Hello, sirs! How was your trip?”

Taako looks surprised. “Pretty good, Angus. We had a good time. Uh, we sure missed you, though.”

Dad is trying not to laugh again.

“I missed you too. Hey, I forgot to ask! What’re y’all going to Neverwinter for?” Angus keeps his smile bright and earnest.

He lets them tie themselves in knots for a while, and then he glances at his book and decides now as good of a time as ever to reveal it.

“And what are your guys’ names?” He asks, innocently.

“I’m… Leeman?” Merle looks confused.

“Still Didley,” Dad says, squinting at him suspiciously.

“No, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. What are your guys’s real names?” Angus makes sure his expression doesn’t change a bit, and Dad’s own expression at it makes it even _better_.

Dad suddenly looks down, and Dad knows that book, Dad _gave him_ that book, and Dad puts his face in his hands for a moment.

Taako tries to snatch the book, but Angus moves it out of reach quickly.

Dad, catching on, grabs it from him, and Angus frowns as they start to play monkey in the middle with it.

“Angus, where did you get this book?” Dad asks, his mouth impressively straight considering he’s holding up his last birthday present to Angus as if it’s contraband.

“That’s not important, what is important is that the three of you tell me exactly what you’re doing on this train and what your real names are,” Angus says, crossing his arms.

Angus leads them back to his sleeper car, because he probably should explain the Rockport Slayer thing, and hope Dad doesn’t get mad at him for investigating a mass murder without telling him first.

In his _defense_ , it’s hard to ask permission when he didn’t know where he was!

* * *

 

Angus hears about Raven’s Roost while he’s at boarding school in Neverwinter.

Dad’s supposed to be on his way to visit him, which is the only reason why Angus doesn’t run away and start hitchhiking his way home.

Dad shows up, withdraws Angus from school, and then the two of them rush back home. The rocking chair sits on the back of the cart the whole way. Dad was supposed to enter in a contest and spend a few weeks just spending time with Angus, but Angus can’t even care about any of that right now, because they haven’t heard anything from Mom or Grandpa Waxmen.

Finally, _finally_ , they get home, and Angus finally gets why Mom sent him away during the rebellion.

“Kalen did this?” He whispers.

Craftsman’s Corridor— _home_ —is completely laid to waste. And the rest of Raven’s Roost is completely deserted. Everyone ran away, Angus realizes. The second they realized they could be next, they had fled, only stopping to bury the dead.

There’s rows upon rows of headstones—seventy-six, Angus counts. Angus and Dad are stopped in front of the two most important ones. Mom and Grandpa.

Dad is crying. Angus has never seen Dad cry before.  “Yeah. He did.”

Angus presses his face against Dad’s shirt, not caring that his face is wet and that he’s going to be making a mess of things. 

“We’re going to catch him, right?” He asks.

Dad hugs him tight. “Well, we’ve got the World’s Greatest Detective on the case,” he says.

Angus nods. He’s not the world’s greatest just yet—but he’ll work on it. He’ll track this guy down. He’ll bring him to justice.

* * *

 

Taako pushes Angus off the train.

“Hey!” Magnus yells, and then, unthinkingly, forgetting how beat up he is, he jumps after Angus to see if he’s okay.

Which is when he’s reminded that he hasn’t had a rest in a while, and hits zero hitpoints.

Whoops.

* * *

 

“Dad? Dad!” Angus yells, panicked when Dad doesn’t get up immediately.

He reaches into his emergency kit that he always carries, and produces a health potion. _Sure_ , Dad tells him he’s supposed to save it for himself, but Angus figures Dad can’t be mad at him for saving his life, right?

Angus hopes so at least; he really doesn’t want to be grounded. Dad’s got a strange sense of humor when it comes to grounding.

In the meantime, Taako jumps off the train and it disappears into the portal, which is very good, but Angus’s main attention is still focused on his dad, who’s slowly waking up.

“Ango?”

“Dad!” Angus hugs him tightly.

Taako, who’d landed gracefully on his feet nearby, promptly falls over.

“I must have been hearing things, my dude, or you must have hit your head a lot harder than I thought, because Magnus… I think Agnes just called you “Dad,” which is pretty buck-wild.”

“My name is Angus, sir! And I called him Dad because, well… he is my dad!”

“Man, I really am hearing thing pretty badly.”

“Sir?”

“Ignore him, Angus,” Dad says cheerfully, getting to his feet. “Hey, did you lose some teeth?”

“Yes, but they were loose already,” Angus says.

“Oh good, I don’t think the—my new job has dental.”

“This is the static place?”

“Sure is, pumpkin,” Taako says absently, tilting his head while staring at Angus. “Hey, Magnus? How come your kid is so annoying? And smart?”

“Well, he gets the first one from me, the second from his mom!”

“We should… probably go explain things to the Militia, Dad,” Angus says, tugging on his arm.

“Oh, right.”

Magnus takes Angus’s hand, and the two of them walk into Neverwinter together.

* * *

 

Lucretia is used to strange requests from her employees. She’s even more used to strange employees from her friends, even though now they don’t remember that they _are_ her friends.

But when Magnus asks her if he can bring his son onto the moon Lucretia does a spittake.

“Your _what_?”

“My son!” 

She regards him suspiciously. “Magnus, I’ve told you. No dogs on the moon.”

“He’s not a dog! He’s a human boy!”

Lucretia puts her hands to her temples. “Wait. You’re not goofing? You have a son?” _How did she not know this_?

“Yep! His name is Angus. He’s ten years old!”

… _what_.

“What?”

“Well, fine, he’s my step-son, but I’ve adopted him and everything! It’s like… mostly legal!”

“… I’d have to inoculate him,” she says, quietly, trying to think, because Magnus has a _son_. That changes… that changes _everything_. A _son_. A little boy—ten years old is so _young_.

“I mean, don’t worry about him! He’s _super_ smart! He’s like, _way_ smarter than me—I think Taako and Merle mentioned him? He was on the train with us.”

Suddenly, something clicks into place in Lucretia’s head.

“Angus McDonald?” She asks, reaching into her desk.

“Yeah!”

“Boy detective?”

“World’s _greatest_ ,” Magnus says, a proud father through and through.

Lucretia pulls out his file and drops it onto her desk.

“… why do you have a file on him?”

“He’s been investigating people who have been erased by the Voidfish.”

“… I didn’t tell him!”

“I don’t think you did,” Lucretia says. “But you know what they say… if you can’t beat them, hire them.”

“… are you giving my son a job?”

“Do you think he’d be interested?”

“Yeah, probably. Does this mean he can move in?”

“I’ll fix the paperwork.”

“Yeah!”

Lucretia puts her head in her hands.

Magnus’s son is a genius detective who is able to circumvent, if not completely ignore Fisher’s abilities just by the power of deductive reasoning.

She is going to have to be _very_ careful moving forward.

But it will be nice to meet Magnus’s son.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me at @secretlystephaniebrown on Tumblr!


End file.
